


What kind of woman doesn't have an axe?

by keita52



Series: Galactic Dating Service [6]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Creative use of biotics, F/F, Open Relationships, Polyamory, allies to friends to lovers, mentions of F!Shiara
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-09
Updated: 2018-03-09
Packaged: 2019-03-28 21:02:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13912158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keita52/pseuds/keita52
Summary: Sparks fly between Rosa Shepard and Aria T'Loak as they attempt to retake Omega from Cerberus.





	What kind of woman doesn't have an axe?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [YourLocalPriestess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/YourLocalPriestess/gifts).



Rosa Shepard tapped the side of her head, deactivating her visor and giving her eyes a chance to adjust as she and Aria stepped into the command area. “Looks like you don’t really need me,” she said dryly.

Aria T’Loak snorted, but didn’t turn around to look at her. “The way you dispatched those Cerberus goons -- yeah, I do need you, Shepard.” She waved a hand to indicate the others in the room -- members of half a dozen other species busily moving, talking to each other or on omni-tools. “Their priorities are my people. Protecting them. Saving their lives. _Your_ priority, and mine, is to kick fucking Cerberus in the teeth and off _my_ station.”

“Whatever you say, boss.”

Aria whirled around. “Dammit, Shepard, I --” Then she caught sight of Rosa’s self-satisfied smirk and let out a snort of disgust.

Rosa knew she shouldn’t have yanked Aria’s chain like that, but a part of her just couldn’t resist. She’d known that Aria was full of fire and passion. Knowing it and seeing in action, seeing it directed at her -- those were two very different things.

Aria moved to check in with her people, and Rosa walked off to one side so she could finish taking off her armor. She tugged at her braid, trying to ease some of the pressure on her scalp. She only braided her hair in combat, and usually let it out and back to its natural unruly state as soon as she could. Alas, she’d have to leave it confined for the foreseeable future.

A turian handed her a plate of food when she was done, and a canteen cup of water to wash it down with. Rosa nodded absent thanks and dug in. High calorie, low taste. Just what she’d been living on for … well, it felt like forever, but it had actually been only a few months. Even the meals in Alliance lockup had been better than this. 

Rosa found somewhere to sit, tension draining from her limbs as they stopped having to support her. She was going to need all her strength if it really was just her and Aria out there. She’d like a few more soldiers at their side, but their unceremonious exit from Aria’s flagship had put paid to that idea. And Aria was right -- the people here needed to focus on Omega’s civilian population.

That was one of the things Rosa had always admired about Aria. The Queen of Omega took care of her people. She might be despotic and ruthless, but she wasn’t a tyrant. 

She scraped her plate clean and set it aside, then stood and reluctantly began stretching her sore limbs out. This was going to be a marathon, and she needed to be sure that she could see it through to the end. No relatively cushy bunk in the Normandy for her, at day’s end; no special treatment as the Commander. There was no special treatment to be had here, and if there was, it’d rightfully go to Aria. 

The cots looked to be about the same grade she’d had to use in Basic and N-School, but a bed was a bed. “Aria,” Rosa called.

“Yeah?”

“Need me for anything? If not, I’m going to bed down.”

Aria waved a hand in permission, and Rosa chose an empty cot, sacking out on it.

* * *

The next few days fell into a similar pattern. Clear the paths between command stations out, make it safe to send supplies and people back and forth. They were both on their feet and spending bullets nearly every hour they were awake, finding opportunities to ambush Cerberus forces.

Aria had argued at first, impatient, wanting to run ahead. Rosa had reminded her that Aria had agreed to let _her_ call the shots, as this was her area of expertise. That had led to more than a few stretches of tense silence, Aria tight-lipped with the objections she wouldn’t vocalize, Rosa keeping an eye on their surroundings for trouble.

Perhaps it was just that Aria realized she needed to spend her energy on other things. Perhaps it was that Aria actually _saw_ that Rosa knew what she was doing. By the end of the third day, there was more of a thawing, the beginnings of true camaraderie.

Aria laid a hand on Rosa’s arm when Rosa began to walk away, after entering the bunker. Surprised, Rosa looked up at Aria.

“If you give me a few minutes,” Aria said, “I’ll eat with you.”

Rosa cracked her usual sardonic smile. “Would’ve thought you’d get enough of my company during the day.”

Aria chuckled in response. “You’re an interesting woman, Shepard. I thought so when we first met. You’ve only gotten more interesting.”

As Aria walked off to handle her underlings, Rosa tried to walk back the unreasonably strong wash of happiness that had come over her at those words. And failed.

* * *

On the fifth day, they ran into trouble.

Not the kind of trouble that they’d both been expecting, of course. Rosa knew all too well it was the trouble that couldn’t be planned around that usually screwed the proverbial pooch.

They were in the middle of fighting off a wave of Rampart Mechs in Omega’s warehouse district when an Atlas decided to join the party. Rosa and Aria ducked behind a large crate that Rosa strongly suspected wouldn’t stand up to an Atlas rocket, and she looked around for an alternative place.

“Shit,” Aria hissed, and Rosa turned to look at her. Aria pointed, lips tight, at where a tarp had been blown off of a set of barrels, lashed together. Rosa recognized the universal sign for explosives on the side.

Rosa let out a string of curses and stood up, preparing to dash backwards. The barrels weren’t exactly in their path, but neither the Rampart Mechs nor the Atlas were being particularly careful about where they aimed, so…

It all happened at once. The sound of bullets and rockets flying, one of them impacting into the barrels. The earth-shaking _boom_ and the large fireball, a heat so intense that Rosa felt it through her armor. The shaking continued, even intensified, and Rosa’s stomach dropped a moment before her body did.

She fought the wild panic surging through her, hands frantically scrabbling for something, _anything_ , to hold on to, or use to break her fall. She couldn’t see the bottom of wherever they were falling. Out of the station entirely? She cursed herself for having that thought; it would only make the panic worse.

“Rosa!” Aria was besides her, suddenly, holding out a hand. She took it without thinking and her momentum suddenly shifted sideways. Belatedly, she noticed that both of them were coated in a purple-blue haze. Aria had used her biotics.

Chunks of debris fell where they had been just a moment before as they tumbled onto metal scaffolding. The wind left Rosa’s lungs as she struggled to grab a measure of control.

“Where -- are we?” 

“You think I know?” Aria scowled, bringing up her omni-tool and starting to scan. “There has to be a way out of here,” she mumbled.

“Up?” Rosa suggested, and Aria’s scowl intensified. Rosa held her hands out in a gesture of peace. “Sorry.”

Aria sighed and continued scanning. “This way,” she said after another few moments. “There’s a ladder. Hopefully we can still get to it.” She started moving, and Rosa followed after her. 

The ladder was, thankfully, intact, but the area at the top was blocked by the debris. Aria snarled her frustration, lashing out with biotic energy to clear it. This time, Rosa didn’t say anything. She was starting to think that Aria was going to need to conserve her strength.

She was right. They encountered several other blocked areas, and while Rosa did what she could with her own two hands, most of the work was on Aria’s end. Rosa noted that Aria was actually looking _tired_ for the first time in their acquaintance.

When they reached another blocked area, Rosa put her hand on Aria’s arm before she could get started. “Enough,” she said, gently but firmly. “You’re going to wear yourself to exhaustion doing that.”

“We _have_ to _get_ _back_ ,” Aria snarled. A flicker of biotic energy sprang from her hand -- but only a flicker.

“Here.” Rosa dug in her armor’s storage compartment and held out a nutrient bar. “It tastes like shit, but it’s got calories.”

Aria stared at the bar, then took it and practically tore it in half getting the wrapper off. Rosa couldn’t help but chuckle. “Sorry,” she said again, when Aria glared at her. “It’s just -- I’m usually the one that snarls and tears things rather than actually do anything productive.”

The glare turned into a considering look, then a respectful smile. “How many more of these do you have?” 

Rosa checked. “Couple more. Not enough to let you recharge fully. We’re going to have to rest. Your omni-tool’s still working, so we can send word to Bray. Tell him what happened.”

Aria slammed her palm against the latest obstruction, shoulders sagging in defeat. “Yeah.”

“I can keep watch.”

“No. You rest, I rest. No one can get to us here, and if it takes too long, you’re going to have to --” Aria grimaced -- “ _protect_ me.” The way she said _protect_ suggested that it was the filthiest, most loathsome word in her vocabulary.

“All right. Let’s find somewhere to take a nap.”

Despite her words about no one being able to get to them, Aria did in fact choose a spot that was hidden from the warren of walkways and ladders they’d been traversing. 

“Do we have anything to start a fire with?” Rosa asked as they sat down. “I can use my omni-tool to spark, but…”

Aria looked around, scowled, looked around some more, and then shook her head. “No. Dammit.”

“Then all we have for heat is...” Rosa trailed off, her cheeks flushing unwillingly, then straightened herself up and forced the flash of excitement back. “Each other.”

“I won’t tell if you don’t.”

Somehow, that made Rosa feel better about the situation. She started removing her armor carefully. She did have a thermal skinsuit on, but she’d still need to sleep close to Aria. Spoon, even. She resisted the urge to ask Aria whether she wanted to be the little spoon or the big one.

Once she’d stacked her armor, she lay down and let Aria decide where she was going, utterly unsurprised when Aria chose the big spoon position. Rosa closed her eyes and tried to relax. The ground was hard, and the adrenaline from the fight still lingered in her veins. Plus… there was Aria.

She remembered the last time she’d been this close to Aria. Not long after they’d met, when Rosa was still trying to figure out where she and Liara stood. She’d drunk too much, which always happened when she was stressing about Liara, and passed out at Afterlife’s bar. 

And woken up with her head in Aria’s lap. Embarrassed and trying desperately not to show it, not to mention horny as hell. She had a vague memory of making a drunken pass at Aria and Aria brushing it off. Shit, and now it was _all_ she could think about…

Rosa wasn’t sure she actually slept, but she did doze for a time, waking only when something brushed against her breasts. Something soft — a hand?

She lay perfectly still, pretending that she was still dozing. It was hard to keep up the facade when she realized that Aria was, in fact, fondling her. Rosa wished she dared turn around to see whether Aria's eyes were closed. Was Aria sleeping? Did she know what she was doing to Rosa?

Ah, hell. "Aria?" Rosa had to know.

"So you are awake." Aria's voice was soft and contained an unmistakable purr. "And … not pulling away. I thought you'd patched things up with Benezia's daughter."

Rosa rolled over so that she was facing Aria, letting her eyes roam over every inch of her body. "I did."

"I didn't take you for a cheater." The lift of Aria's eyebrow made it into a question.

Rosa's mouth quirked into a smile. "I'm not. She knows. Well, not about this, obviously, but …"

"She's a very understanding woman, then." Aria leaned in, putting her lips inches from Rosa's ears. "And I am a lucky one."

Rosa turned her head to catch her lips on Aria's, and the banked heat between them erupted into a raging inferno. The cold — their entire reason for sleeping as they had — was entirely forgotten now. They both bared their skin to the elements so that their hands could roam over each other's bodies. Aria was skilled at finding Rosa's most sensitive spots and putting _just_ the right amount of pressure on said spots. Rosa wished she could do half as well, but Aria gave her no chance to experiment. Aria, it seemed, was bound and determined to turn Rosa into a puddle as quickly as possible.

Rosa didn't have the strength — or the will — to push back against that determination. Her head tilted back against the ground as Aria shifted, hands pressing down on Rosa's hips, then moving down her thighs, spreading her legs apart. Rosa closed her eyes in anticipation of fingers, or a tongue, but that wasn't what she got.

Instead, what felt like a warm, soft vibrator entered her. She opened her eyes to see Aria's fist, clenched and glowing with biotic energy. "This," Aria said as Rosa opened her mouth to protest, "doesn't take nearly as much energy as moving rocks does. And I like seeing what my lovers look like while I'm blowing their minds. So. Indulge me, Rosa Shepard."

"When you put it like that …" Rosa's head fell back down to the ground, her eyes closing, giving herself over to what Aria was doing to her. The biotic vibrator (for lack of anything better to think of it as) moved in and out of her, slowly, testing her reactions to different angles. Aria was nothing if not methodical, Rosa thought in amusement.

Then she lost the ability to think coherently as Aria's exploration paid off, once again putting _just_ the right amount of pressure in _just_ the right spot. She gasped, arching into the touch, giving off a series of shuddering appreciative moans. Aria increased the pace, the biotic vibrator moving faster, and faster, and pressing harder, and …

It wasn't really a singular moment of climax that washed over Rosa; more like a beautifully sung note in just the right key, the final flourish to a gorgeous opera. Aria's free hand pressed into her thigh, and Rosa could hear her breathing, nearly as ragged as her own. Abruptly the biotic vibrator vanished andAria shifted, her legs coming to press against Rosa's shoulders. Rosa tilted her chin up, her tongue sticking out of her mouth slightly, testing the air — tasting Aria's entrance. She was too dazed and drained to apply a tenth of the artistry that Aria had used on her, but Aria didn't seem to care, pressing down insistently. Rosa abandoned all thoughts of subtlety and gave the other woman exactly what she wanted. She pressed up with all her strength, her tongue constantly in motion, caressing Aria's walls.

And soon enough, they both got what they wanted. It was an effort to keep herself moving when all she really wanted to do was lie there and listen to Aria moan in the throes of her own climax. She felt a surge of pride at that — silly to feel that way, but there it was.

When they finally settled back into sleep, they were firmly wrapped around each other.

* * *

There had been more than a few moments between them where things could have been awkward.

The first had been returning to the outpost after being trapped in the lower levels, both of them bedraggled and exhausted, Aria leaning heavily on Rosa for support. Rosa didn’t want to think about how close Aria had been to collapsing and forcing Rosa to run ahead alone.

But they had made it back, and Aria had regained her strength after a long nap and a meal that would normally have done for six people, insisting they go out to continue the crusade.

And that was the second time they had avoided awkwardness by the skin of their teeth: running into Nyreen Kandros. Rosa knew instantly that there was some serious history between Aria and Nyreen. She’d also felt a momentary flare of jealousy -- but momentary was all it was. There was nothing between her and Aria but the single night, and it might never go any further than that. Rosa felt regret at that prospect, but not enough to do anything _stupid_ like try to pin Aria down on something. Aria was Queen of Omega. She couldn’t be pinned down unless she wanted to.

Nyreen brought the Talons into the fight, after a long wrangling session which left Aria looking both huffy and pleased. She explained when she sat down to dinner with Rosa. “Nyreen left because she didn’t want to be swallowed up by me. With everything that’s happened to her…” She cast a glance at where Nyreen sat with the Talons. “That’s no longer a possibility."

Rosa considered that, considered how things had changed between her and Liara after Liara had switched to being an information broker instead of an academic, and nodded her agreement.

“Doesn’t mean she gets to displace you from my bed just yet,” Aria said.

Rosa controlled her reactionary blush just in time. Another case of avoided awkwardness. “Yet?”

Aria shrugged. “You’re leaving when this is over. Even if I could keep you here, I wouldn’t. Your fight’s bigger than Omega, and you’re the only one that can lead it. So, I’ll take advantage of you while --” She broke off, shaking her head. “Shows I haven’t learned either.”

Rosa couldn’t help the wicked grin that crept across her face. “Oh, I don’t know,” she drawled. “You _are_ so much older and more skilled in the ways of pleasure than I… how could you possibly avoid taking advantage of little old me?”

The look Aria gave her in return was best described as ‘smoldering’. After dinner, Aria cut evening’s planning as short as she dared get away with, in favor of unleashing some of that experience and skill on Rosa. Not that Rosa minded in the least.

They somehow kept avoiding all those awkward moments until they were about to enter Afterlife in preparation for the final assault. When they stopped just around the corner from a group of Cerberus soldiers and Aria, much to both Nyreen and Rosa’s shock, pulled Rosa in for a passionate kiss. And then did the same thing to Nyreen.

“We’re getting out of this,” Aria told them, while they stood there, dazed. “We’re getting out of this so that the three of us -- and Liara T’Soni -- can spend an evening or two screwing each other senseless.”

Rosa cast a glance at Nyreen to see how she was taking this. Nyreen’s mandibles flared, and she kept looking between Rosa and Aria. “When,” the turian said dryly, “were you going to ask for my consent in this?”

Aria’s face fell. “I -- you’re right. I should have.”

“How about that,” Nyreen said, her tone still dry. “You _can_ change and you _do_ know how to apologize. Consent granted.”

And that seemed to fill them all with a new resolve to live -- so when Nyreen had cornered a group of Adjutants and looked like she might die to ensure that they did, Aria used her own biotics to grab her by the ankle and pulled her free of the explosion at the last possible second.

* * *

“I’m _fine_ ,” Nyreen insisted at the door to Afterlife. “Let me come in with you --”

“No. Stay here. Keep reinforcements from arriving.” Aria’s tone brooked no arguments.

“You’d only slow us down,” Rosa said, willing to play the proverbial ‘bad cop’ in this case. “You’d get all of us killed because we’d be trying to stick to your speed. Stay here, or no orgy.”

“You sound like a parent trying to bargain with a stubborn child,” Nyreen complained, but she didn’t follow when Aria and Rosa moved inside. They were met with a hail of gunfire, Aria bringing up a biotic shield of her own to stop the bullets, both of them ducking behind a low wall to find cover.

Rosa checked her inventory of inferno grenades and grinned wickedly. “Let’s light this place up.”

Aria matched her grin. “On my count.” Rosa nodded. “One, two…”

The instant Aria said _three_ Rosa was on her feet and lobbing a grenade at the nearest cluster of Cerberus, then bringing up her shotgun to ensure that no one got too close. Days of working together, of being out in the wilds of Omega destroying as many Cerberus troops as possible, had made their combat rhythm smooth. Aria tossed a Singularity at the cluster, which would take care of them for a time, and then Rosa leveled a concussive shot at one of the charging Rampart Mechs, stopping it in its tracks. She finished it off with a blast to the face, turning and bringing out her omni-blade to slice through a Phantom who’d tried to get too close. “I hate these fuckers,” she muttered, withdrawing her blade and seeing the Phantom collapse onto the ground with no small amount of satisfaction.

They kept moving, kept killing, Aria’s excitement becoming greater and greater with each body that hit the ground. “Hit my station? Kill my people?” she shouted up at General Petrovsky, when they were close enough for him to hear. “I’ll show you what Aria T’Loak does to traitors and thugs!”

“Commander Shepard,” Petrovsky shouted. “I surrender to you. I can see when I am beaten.”

Rosa put a hand on Aria’s shoulder to restrain her murderous fury. For a wonder, the Queen of Omega subsided. “And what do you offer in return for your miserable life?”

“Intelligence on the Illusive Man. I know you’re going after him. I can be a veritable gold mine of information, if you’ll let me.”

Rosa tilted her head to the side, considering. “You know, that’s a good offer,” she said. “Shame I’m not going to take it.” She removed her hand from Aria’s arm.

“Shepard, plea--” Petrovsky’s final words were cut short as Aria’s axe buried itself in his stomach. An _axe?_ Where had that come from?

“Thank you, Shepard,” Aria said, blood dripping from the blade onto her previously pristine floor. “And who knows? I might get you some of that intelligence anyway.”

“Where,” Rosa said, asking her earlier question aloud, “did you get that axe? And why do you have one in your office anyway?”

Aria turned and grinned. “What kind of woman _doesn’t_ have an axe?”

“Huh. Note to self, get axes for the Normandy. Where’d you get that one?”

“Tell you later,” Aria replied, kicking the still-moving Petrovsky aside. “For now, I’ve got a station to address.”

“And an orgy to plan.”

“Tell T’Soni to get her ass out here. That’s all the planning we need.” 

Rosa laughed, bringing up her omni-tool and beginning to compose a message to the Normandy. One without any mention of orgies.

**Author's Note:**

> Rosa is based on Rosa Diaz from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which is also where the title comes from.


End file.
